My entry for the #monomad challenge today.
Silhouettes are a dramatic style of Monochrome photography in that they strip away everything except the solid form or forms of an image- leaving this as impact and varying textures of "white space"around it for our eyes to interpret.They are often of simple scenes that take on a new life as silhouettes.The camera sensors are going nuts trying to interpret the strong brightness at the same time as trying to define the strong dark areas-this makes for great images with a bit of experimentation.
A cave on Auckland's west coast.I wanted to show the huge size of the cave and so waited inside until I saw this lone tramper crossing in front of it.The bright sunlight outside frames the image with the cave's rugged contours and it dwarfs the tiny silhouette of the man.
Sunlight can cause dramatic shadows which become a living part of an image-especially on rainy days where the water creates a shiny surface..The fisherman in the image has "ghosted"due to the intense sunlight as the camera sensor tries to define what is happening!I often see silhouetted images as paintings in my mind's eye.
Sometimes when you know what the position of the sun will be you can plan a photo around this.I knew where the sun would be for this shot-I just had to wait for the pigeons to arrive!
A favourite time for me to take silhouettes is in fog.The fog actually acts as a filter for the camera sensor so more texture and softness is possible.In this image powerlines divide the image into two.
In the next three images the sun is visible through the thick fog but doesn't overwhelm the sensor.
This image was shot not at the sun but at a halogen street light at daybreak.The image is blurred by low light and being shot hand held but I think it adds atmosphere-as I said I sometimes look at silhouettes as paintings.
The next two images are shot directly into the sun.The objects become totally blacked out and almost look like a drawing.
Finally a digger working at the harbour.I wanted to accentuate the stark industrial machine with the sea and the seawater pouring from it catches the sun.
Thanks for reading this post.Next time you are blinded by the light don't give up-be brave and shoot into the sun,or streetlight,or stagelighting-with practise you will reap some dramatic rewards!
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